Formation: 5-3-2 fluid, counter attacking.Defensive line: normalStyle: very direct, fast tempo. Villa in free role to run into pockets, create and finish himself. Benarrivo and Marcelo both can support the attack and supply the forward line.

Short team profiles:

(GK) De Gea - steadily becoming one of the best keepers to have graced the game. Imperious for United and probably the outstanding player we have had since Fergie retired.(LWB) Marcelo Vieira - Probably the best attacking modern day full back. Marcelo has won 4 La Liga titles and 3 CL medals to his name, being absolutely vital for both attack and defence at Real. Another big game player who doesn't shy under pressure.(RWB) Antonio Benarrivo - another 90's Seria A notable figure. An enthusiastic wing back, full back or even at times deployed as midfielder he had pace to burn, great cross and as other Italian full backs - solid in defence. WC winner in 94 playing in all of Italy's games at the WC bar the first round defeat against Ireland.(RCB) Bobby Moore - the outstanding defender and CB on the pitch. The 'Rolls Royce' defender is pretty much known figure and WC winning captain. Would marshal the defense for us and organize the backline. He was a very good passer as well. So, will look to initiate swift counter-attacks from the back.(LCB) Tony Adams - solid no nonsense defender with great tacking ability and imperious in the air. Arsenal long serving captain and winner of 4 PL/First division titles, along with numerous other accolades.(Libero) Rune Bratseth - the best Norwegian player of all time. Led Norway to the WC in 94. World class in three seasons according to Kicker in the late 80's early 90's. Fast as hell, comfortable on the ball and rock solid at the back.(LCM) Jean Tigana - From Claude Makelele to Didier Deschamps and even now N'Golo Kante, France have had some geniuses in this position, but none finer than Jean Tigana. A really classy central midfielder, Tigana had it all; stamina, technique, vision. He won 52 caps for the national team, winning the European Championships and making two World Cup semi-finals. Tigana was runner-up to compatriot Michel Platini in the 1984 Ballon d'Or.(RCM) Marco Tardelli - Hard tackling midfielder, epitomizing the Catenaccio era, but very skillful on the ball and excellent in transition, alongside Tigana forms a top notch midfield unit.(AM) Rivellino - Integral part of Brazil's best team ever he was one of those players who can dribble you in a phone booth and was an example for the younger generation. He possessed enormous flair and talent with a cannonball of a shot(named “The Atomic Kick”).

(CF) David Villa - well known - one of the most creative and deadly forwards in the 00's. Valencia and Spanish national team legend.(CF) Gerd Müller - One of Europe's elite. Probably the most deadly finisher the game has seen. Simple quote from Beckenbauer says it all:

"Without the goals of Gerd Müller, Bayern Munich would not be where it is today. What Bayern have today, their palace on the Säbener Straße, that would have stayed a shed without him” – Franz Beckenbauer

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Team tactics and style:Defence - marshaled by Moore, our defence is complimented by two very strong defenders in the air (Adams and Bratseth) but also complimentary pairing as Bratseth was also excellent on the ball and possessed great pace that not many forwards were able to outrun him. Benarrivo and Marcelo will man their own flanks contributing in both phases.Midfield - Tigana and Tardelli will form the double pivot midfield base - both solid in the defensive phase and able to contribute forward. Rivellino will be no stranger to the midfield battle as his work rate is well appreciated and perhaps should give us a nod there.Attack - a GOAT striker in Müller who will get plenty of support both from the flanks from our wing backs, Villa who is notably a creative forward, and of course Rivellino slicing the opposition open with his vision and passing ability. Villa is also in his zone here - able to run into pockets, drop wide and also attack the box when der Bomber makes room with his movement.

Advantages:
Defence - we feel we have the upper hand here with one of the best keepers in De Gea, shielded by a solid core, marshaled by Moore and two excellent wing backs in Marcelo and Benarrivo. Our defence is well suited dealing in the air, but also Bratseth and Moore can match fast and tricky opponents in addition dealing with the threat before it even occurs (Moore's imperious reading of the game). Moore is set up as RCB so he can cover for Benarrivo and help out neutralize Iso's best player - Ronaldinho's threat on the right of our defence.Midfield - Isotope has a solid base, but we have one of the best box to box midfielders in the game spearheaded by none other but Rivellino - a complete playmaker with great work ethic and team work.Attack - Alongside der Bomber we also have Villa and both are supplied by Rivellino - a stylistically great trio, that offers a lot of variation in attack.Fluidity - Our team is excellent in terms of transition and moving through the lines. Even our forwards in Villa and der Bomber are known for their work ethic and movement up top. Marcelo and Benarrivo are perfectly capable of manning their flanks and especially Marcelo has a great output going forward. Tardelli and Tigana are well suited to deal with the opposition attacking threat and can help out wide in negating Robben and Ronaldinho's movement.Bratseth in libero role - Bratseth was a great defender in the late 80's and early 90's and by far the best libero at the time - something well recognized not only by Kicker but from the innovator of the position himself - Beckenbauer. He was tall, imposing and rock solid, but also very fast and agile - qualities well suited to negate Ibra's game and also his natural vertical movement will be well suited to Ibra dropping deep to receive the ball.Very strong spine - We feel we have the upper hand in terms of quality spread across the pitch - De Gea is at least tier above Rossi on goal, Moore is the best defender much like Muller the outstanding striker, coupled with not one but two of the elite B2B midfielders in Tigana/Tardelli. It's a great spine that allows Benarrivo, Marcelo, Rivellino and Villa a lot of freedom to play their natural game.

TEAM ISOTOPE

Why you may like this Team

Pacy, strong and lively. That describe this team. The attacking prowess of Ronaldinho and Robben (Ro-Ro) on the flanks, and Ibrahimovic’s acrobatic skills, will make the football fans stand up every time those three have the ball. And the supporting midfield guarantee that they will have plenty of it.

Not slow in coming forward, Netzer, Seedorf, and Schweinsteiger have this aptitude to pull off something extraordinary during a match. Netzer as one of the greatest passers in the game's history, and Seedorf as one of the most successful player in Champions League history. Schweinsteiger, the man revered as a "football god" by the Bavarian fans, will also be there bossing the defence and midfield.

The last defensive line of Ruggeri, Cannavaro, Camacho, and Tassotti, provides the incredibly stable platform to the team when attacking and defending.

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Defence
A giant between the sticks is the Rossoneri number one, Sebastiano Rossi. At 6’ 6” tall, he is aggressive and physically strong goalkeeper, able to exert full command of his area while possessing superb aerial ability.

The heart of our defence are two among the best of their continents: the "Il Muro di Berlino" Fabio Cannavaro and the "El Cabezón" Oscar Ruggeri. Patrolling the flank while defensively ruthless are the well-known José Antonio Camacho and Mauro Tassotti. Both comfortable defending in wide areas and able to get up and back on the line.

Midfield
Patrolling the defence and midfield is the 'Fußballgott', Bastian Schweinsteiger. Günter Netzer will be the ‘Conducter’ to set the team’s tempo. With his cultured range of passing, Netzer will be distributing the ball, either with long ball or intricate short exchanges.

Clarence Seedorf, a special player that combined skill, vision and excellent stamina and strength, will provide balance in midfield. Seedorf can support the attack, with his timing run in from deeper positions.

Winger
To either side of the striker, two wider players job is to create chances from the flanks as well as cutting in. As one of the best dribbler of all time, Ronaldinho will use his dribbling runs and playmaking to lead the attack from out left or in a more central area.

Arjen Robben also has great dynamic movement behind the defensive lines or as for Holland to receive a shorter pass to his feet and run straight at the defense. Both of them are fantastic goalscorers with a goalscoring ratio that would be great even for strikers.

Striker
"If I had played in England I would have destroyed it, like I have everywhere else." One of the most entertaining footballers in the world, Ibrahimovic is a big but skillful target man who can hold the ball up and lay it off for the oncoming midfielders, or finishing chances himself with incredible strikes.
With the genuine quality of players behind him, he will receive plenty of balls into the penalty area.

Love Roberto Rivelino. Good thing there's a photo as I wondered if this Rivellino guy was some regen.

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Actually we wanted put the focus on him a bit as he was a great player, but rather rarely given the centerpiece for the #10 position in all time draft, mostly due to the heavy competition he's facing there.

I liked the Muller-Villa swap idea in the last match thread though. Makes perfect sense.
In fact sits well with Rivellino's roles at major tournaments.

Surprised why that wasn't done.

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Villa is in a free role so he has full freedom to basically do what he did at Valencia - he was very good in running into pockets, create space for others and switch flanks at will. Our there main attacking players are well versatile and combined with their excellent movement makes it a more free flowing unit rather than how they are nominally depicted.

Our attacking game plan and Villa's role is that of a complete and creative forward with Muller our focal point and Benarrivo/Marcelo supporting the attack on the flanks. Rivellino would be our main playmaker and slicing the opposition defence open with his vision and passing ability:

Villa is in a free role so he has full freedom to basically do what he did at Valencia - he was very good in running into pockets, create space for others and switch flanks at will. Our there main attacking players are well versatile and combined with their excellent movement makes it a more free flowing unit rather than how they are nominally depicted.

Our attacking game plan and Villa's role is that of a complete and creative forward with Muller our focal point and Benarrivo/Marcelo supporting the attack on the flanks. Rivellino would be our main playmaker and slicing the opposition defence open with his vision and passing ability:

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I hear what you are saying, but the free roles argument usually kills the work the formation picture is supposed to do.
Which is portray the average and most likely position of each player.

For example, this would determine how Marcelo and Bennarivo come into the game constantly.
Rivellino on the left and Villa on the right seem to be the obvious link ups when you look at the lineup and that is how it would look better IMO.

Again, I get your point, but the pitch is quite big for the players to constantly roam around to say they could influence this area and that area too and the formation just places them as pieces

Don't really like Enigma's CB trio. I'd prefer both Moore and Adams in a back 4 over the current formation. Bratseth is the only CB that actually fits the role imo. Despite numbers, I think it's not really balanced or built to get the best out of Moore/Adams and I believe Ronaldinho and Robben will have opportunities to exploit here. I think Netzer is also primed to have a good game here, more than Rivelino.

Don't really like Enigma's CB trio. I'd prefer both Moore and Adams in a back 4 over the current formation. Bratseth is the only CB that actually fits the role imo.

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Struck me as odd at first glance too.

Adams/Moore is a pretty much ideal pair, stylistically.

I like Bratseth as a player but this model seems a bit shoehornish - don't know what their bench looks like, but seems to me they could've just gone with a four, adding a sheer DM, perhaps, if they're worried about the fullbacks being too offensive.

Don't really like Enigma's CB trio. I'd prefer both Moore and Adams in a back 4 over the current formation. Bratseth is the only CB that actually fits the role imo. Despite numbers, I think it's not really balanced or built to get the best out of Moore/Adams and I believe Ronaldinho and Robben will have opportunities to exploit here. I think Netzer is also primed to have a good game here, more than Rivelino.

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Both Adams and Bratseth are well used to playing in a 3 at the back formation. Moore is one of the most intelligent defenders ever, and I have no doubt he'll be pretty fluent in this setup as well. All of them are different defenders as well in a way, which makes them a good stylistic fit. We've moved Bratseth as a libero in the light of what we have to face here. He's the exact type of defender who can limit Ibra's game - excellent in the air, very strong and decisive and fast, whilst of course being top reader of the game.

I like Bratseth as a player but this model seems a bit shoehornish - don't know what their bench looks like, but seems to me they could've just gone with a four, adding a sheer DM, perhaps, if they're worried about the fullbacks being too offensive.

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We could've added an anchor or DM, but IMO Bratseth role is a bit of what you mentioned - a spare covering defender who can also overload the midfield when Ibra drops deep. The idea behind the back three is to give a little more creative and attacking freedom for Marcelo and Benarrivo and them being more influential going forward.

Our gameplan in attack is dependent on Marcelo and Benarrivo going forward and stretching up the play, whilst Tardelli and Tigana provide the stage for Rivellino in the middle.

On the fence here.
Also it was odd to replace Netto, even though you did it with Tigana — for this exact role (left b2b in 5-3-2) Netto was ideal — you could've spent your money on CB that better fits the formation, imo.

Team Iso looks nice, even though Müller will probably get a goal against a stopper-stopper combination of Ruggeri/Cannavaro. But then again he would probably score against any possible defensive combination.

Not to mention Tony Adams against Robben would be a carnage. It's like Vidic against Eto'o, but 2 times worse.

The game is to contain Rivelino, and Enigma's team would bereft of creativity. On my team, there are Netzer in midfield, and Ronaldinho in attack. The likes of Seedorf and Schweinsteiger are not just runners also, but can contribute to the play.

I'm leaning towards Enigma but that really stands out as a problem for them.

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Marcelo has pretty good record against Robben tho. The latter has only scored once - from a penalty and usually Real are always the ones going through in the CL. They've met like 8 times from memory in CL.

We could've added an anchor or DM, but IMO Bratseth role is a bit of what you mentioned - a spare covering defender who can also overload the midfield when Ibra drops deep.

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Hm. Yes, I can - sort of - buy the scheme. It's unorthodox, though.

Another thing is that while Bratseth certainly was both prone to - and very good at - going forward, he usually did so with the ball, no? I mean, classic libero style - making runs with the ball. He wouldn't float up and down as a part time midfielder, so to speak.

He does add one dimension neither of his CB mates has, I'll give you that: Speed. Which always comes in handy, I suppose. Ideally, he could help out by venturing out of the box and pick up dangerous runs, etc. - but, again, it's unorthodox.

I didn't realize Adams played in back 3. I always thought it was a back 4 with variety of partners (Keown, Campbell, Bould etc). Curious, any link on this?

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Graham had Arsenal drilled in both back 3 and back 4 and while back 4 was default he would often switch to a 541 for tough or big matches. I'm not home atm but I'm sure I can find some quotes on that later if you need.

I'm leaning towards Enigma but that really stands out as a problem for them.

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Marcelo has to defend deep, and their left flank would deprived of any wide. Villa might help there, but he's more of left inside striker; which is everybody knows that makes hima lesser player in all his career with Barcelona.

Marcelo has to defend deep, and their left flank would deprived of any wide. Villa might help there, but he's more of left inside striker; which is everybody knows that makes hima lesser player in all his career with Barcelona.

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Not really. He has played his natural role as an attacking full back from that side pretty much in every game against Bayern and I can't recall having any huge issues when facing Robben. We would have Adams there as well so it's not like you'd have Robben always isolated one on one..

Another thing is that while Bratseth certainly was both prone to - and very good at - going forward, he usually did so with the ball, no? I mean, classic libero style - making runs with the ball. He wouldn't float up and down as a part time midfielder, so to speak.

He does add one dimension neither of his CB mates has, I'll give you that: Speed. Which always comes in handy, I suppose. Ideally, he could help out by venturing out of the box and pick up dangerous runs, etc. - but, again, it's unorthodox.

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Yeah, it's a bit unorthodox I agree, but would suit our defenders well I recon. He was pretty good going with the ball and in a double pivot he'd also be a good asset initiating attacks.

He does add one dimension neither of his CB mates has, I'll give you that: Speed. Which always comes in handy, I suppose. Ideally, he could help out by venturing out of the box and pick up dangerous runs, etc. - but, again, it's unorthodox.

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Indeed, that's the main differential quality he brings to the unit. That makes him a good fit for the job in hand as well - being able to cover for Robben/Ronaldinho when needed and also a natural fit for Zlatan.

Not really. He has played his natural role as an attacking full back from that side pretty much in every game against Bayern and I can't recall having any huge issues when facing Robben. We would have Adams there as well so it's not like you'd have Robben always isolated one on one..

Not really. He has played his natural role as an attacking full back from that side pretty much in every game against Bayern and I can't recall having any huge issues when facing Robben. We would have Adams there as well so it's not like you'd have Robben always isolated one on one..

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Well. When you have Ronaldo there in front of you, it's hard for opponent to focus attacking.

Graham had Arsenal drilled in both back 3 and back 4 and while back 4 was default he would often switch to a 541 for tough or big matches. I'm not home atm but I'm sure I can find some quotes on that later if you need.

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Just seen your post mate. A bit to reiterate:

Graham also surprised everyone when, as the architect of Arsenal’s famous back four, he switched his defensive strategy. “We played against Man U with three at the back a few weeks before. Adams, Bould and O’Leary with the full-backs pushed up. It was my plan to use it at Old Trafford before Anfield. But Liverpool didn’t come at us. You could see them thinking: ‘No one beats us 2-0 at Anfield.’ They sat back and we sat back. I thought: ‘This is going all right.’ I told them to make sure it was 0-0 at half-time and then we’d get the first goal.”

yes, of course, but that's the covering role of Bratseth as well. We don't have him man marking Zlatan, just to make it clear. Bratseth is perfectly capable of matching Robben or Dinho for speed(assuming good defensive position what he's famous for) and also being a physical presence against Ibra in the box.

On the fence here.
Also it was odd to replace Netto, even though you did it with Tigana — for this exact role (left b2b in 5-3-2) Netto was ideal — you could've spent your money on CB that better fits the formation, imo.

Team Iso looks nice, even though Müller will probably get a goal against a stopper-stopper combination of Ruggeri/Cannavaro. But then again he would probably score against any possible defensive combination.

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With Enigma's set of CB against my attacking unit (and midfield support, with Netzer's pinpoint passings), I can't see them other than playing deep.
Muller might score there (against the run of play, presumably) but there's no doubt my team would dominate the game. And I think we can score more.

Well. When you have Ronaldo there in front of you, it's hard for opponent to focus attacking.

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Marcelo has been a huge asset for Real in attack, both in their build up and creating chances. For one - he allows Ronaldo to attack the box whilst stretching the play. Can't think of anyone else as a full back nowadays providing the same attacking support, whilst of course being able to regain position and return to defence. Here we have an additional defender as well so he's more covered than playing in a flat back four.

Marcelo has been a huge asset for Real in attack, both in their build up and creating chances. For one - he allows Ronaldo to attack the box whilst stretching the play. Can't think of anyone else as a full back nowadays providing the same attacking support, whilst of course being able to regain position and return to defence. Here we have an additional defender as well so he's more covered than playing in a flat back four.

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Marcelo is an attacking left back, and it was largely possible with opponents have to worry about Ronaldo (one of the all time great).

On the last CL Final, Ronaldo moved more centrally, and Alves had the freedom running havoc on Marcelo's side. Now replace Alves with Robben, and the effect is amplified.

Even then, Robben has an option on either going against Marcelo, or Tony Adams. Unless Marcelo would just stick man marking Robben?